


The Life and Times of Hazel Ketchum

by ElektrikRush



Series: Hazel Ketchum Series [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Aura (Pokemon), Aura Guardians (Pokemon), Battle Frontier (Pokemon), Camping, Chairman Rose is super suss, Experimentation, Galar-chihou | Galar Region (Pokemon), International Police (Pokemon), Investigations, Kantou-chihou | Kanto Region (Pokemon), Multi, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Contests, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Training, Social Media, Unethical Experimentation, Wild Area (Pokemon), commercialisation, frontier brain, like seriously, regions, sponsors, travelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElektrikRush/pseuds/ElektrikRush
Summary: Hazel has achieved her dream of becoming the final Brain for the Kanto Battle Frontier but that still hasn't quenched the restlessness inside her soul. Galar, a region of commercialised battles has rich history with powerful lore is about to get a reckoning.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Original Character(s), Dande | Leon/Original Female Character(s), Haruka | May/Shuu | Drew, Hop/Yuuri | Gloria, Kibana | Raihan/Iris
Series: Hazel Ketchum Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969714
Kudos: 8





	The Life and Times of Hazel Ketchum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel with her friends May, Dawn and Iris all board the S.S. Anne to began their journey to Galar.

"I'm going to be fine, Mama. Seriously!" Hazel gave a half-hearted try to wriggle out of her mother's grasp but it was ironclad. She knew it, her mother knew it and the people surrounding them knew it. There was no escaping Delia Ketchum's hugs.

"But my baby is going so far away" Delia practically sobbed "and for a year!"

"Mama, this isn't any different from all those other times I went to other regions and don't forget I always come back with a present." Hazel reminded her mother. The present was always a Pokemon, one from each of the exotic regions she's travelled: Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos and Unova. Beautifly, Leafeon, Flabébé [now a pretty Floette] and Panpour. Most recently was a surprisingly pink Ribombee from Ula'ula Island in Alola when she was visiting her brother. She didn't have an idea of what Pokemon were in Galar but knew it had to be something easily manageable. Her mother was also quite the battler and usually has to give some arrogant upstart a lesson in humility.

"Don't worry, Mrs Ketchum" Hazel didn't have to look at May to know she was smirking "we'll take good care of her. Promise."

"Yeah" Dawn added in a giggle "making sure she doesn't get into too much trouble-"

"-and always wearing clean underwear!" Iris finished then all three howled in laughter.

"Come on guys" Hazel growled then let out a protesting "Mama!" with a red, embarrassed face. Only then did Delia unlatched her daughter from her embrace.

Hazel didn't usually mind her mother's hugs and most of the time she hugged back something fierce but they were about to be too late for the ship's boarding time.

She looked into Delia's eyes and didn't resist her mother's hands cupping her face "I promise to message you when we get off the ship." She stated in the sincerest voice she could muster "but we need to leave now if we want don't want to miss the boarding call."

Delia nodded and the girls left in a hurry with Iris leading the pack and Hazel taking up the rear.

They actually made it up to the last of the stragglers, showing their tickets to the scanner and quickly hurrying up the ramp all the while Delia was shouting "goodbye my baby! I love you!"

"Make sure you wear clean underwear!" Iris snickered, Hazel gave her a playful shove before racing ahead to find their room.

The ship wasn't even leaving port until four hours from now at six p.m. and to save a bit and get a better room, the girls pooled their money together [with Hazel paying a bit more as her job paid very well] to get a first class room with two queen sized beds and in-room service.

May and Dawn 'oohed and aahed' at the room's lavish design. The beds had soft cotton sheets with exotic Alolan bed cover designs, the bed frames were made from carved mango wood and Swanna feather-stuffed pillows were placed at the head of the bed. Hazel appreciated the flat screen TV, fully stocked mini fridge and the top-notch desktop computer in the corner. She also noticed a few pamphlets on the beside drawer highlighting what the ship had to offer: all-you-can-eat-buffet, an on-board Battle Club, mini-contests, room service, movies, open bars etc. one of the pages even had a colourful advertisement for a gaming arcade.

"I'm sleeping with May!" Dawn shouted and grabbed May by the arm and pulled her down on to the bed.

"Sleeping with her or _sleeping with her?_ " Iris emphasised with exaggerated eyebrow wriggles.

"What? No!" Dawn's protest and red face were obvious to her embarrassment before accusing Iris "you kicked me and hogged the covers last time we shared a bed!"

"Why do I have to sleep with her then?" Hazel indignantly replied. Iris roughly handled a pillow and hit Hazel square in the face, making her fall back on the bed.

"I know the ship isn't leaving for a while but I'm getting pretty hungry." May casually rubbed her stomach.

"You're always hungry," Iris snorted then glare at May's stomach "like a Snorlax with a flat stomach... Skinny bitch." All the girls giggled before getting ready.

They already had pre-planned their outfits so the only real wait time was taking turns in the shower and helping each other with their hair.

Hazel herself had tied her hair into two long braids while choosing somethings she recently got while in Alola because of the hot weather: a black sports bra, unbuttoned red shirt with tropical blue flowers, mostly red shorts pictured with beaches, a sea and palm trees and a pair of black thongs for her feet.

The other girls each wore flattering outfits, especially bought for the cruise and once they were all ready, they exited the room to head out.

May and Iris headed to the buffet while Dawn and Hazel split off to the contests and Battle Club respectively. By this time, everyone was boarded and starting to explore more of the ship.

There were only two so called 'fields' so anyone that signed up had to wait their turn. By the time Hazel got there, both were taken up by a Corphish and Octillery in one and a strange looking Meowth up against a Salazzle.

She assumed the Meowth was another variant form like the one in Alola and was pleasantly surprised when her Pokédex loaded up the info: _Perrserker, the Viking Pokémon, Steel-type, ability: Tough Claws. What appears to be an iron helmet is actually hardened hair. This Pokémon lives for the thrill of battle. That Perrserker was actually evolved from a steel-type variant of Meowth_.

She hadn't actually needed to scan a Pokémon in a while and it gave her a certain rush she missed. The ferocious fire attacks from the Salazzle should've put Perrserker out for the count but the Steel-type was extremely stubborn and it's wilful personality was an actual advantage in there. Perrserker's only move effective against Salazzle was Dig which the trainer was unable to use on the ship so he resorted to a few well-aimed Shadow Ball and Fake Out attacks to finally put it down for good. Hazel quietly eyed the trainer then stalked him until she was close enough to actually approach and start a conversation.

"You're not from Kanto or even Johto, are you?" She inquired curiously, trying not to sound invasive and like she was demanding an answer.

"Oh, no I'm not" he gave her a dazzling smile "I'm actually from Galar, Circhester to be exact."

"What's it like?"

"It's big, old and mostly cold. Some of the buildings are over a thousand years old, some even older and others are modelled after them. It's famous for the hot springs that runs under it, giving off a misty look." The guy described. "My family actually runs one, a little mum-and-pop type compared to some of the biggest."

"That sounds nice, I've tried the hot springs from Lavaridge Town in the Hoenn region and nothing's ever compared since. It's going to be tough to beat them." Hazel commented with a tiny smile and challenging gaze.

"Ha, I like the challenge. My name's Zephyr." He held out his hand.

"Mine's Hazel." She gladly shook his hand "I'm looking to battle strong trainers, I've gotten a bit bored in Kanto and was wondering if you've got any strong Pokémon for me to battle?"

"Well of course I do" he replied in mock indignance "I'll have you know I placed in the Top 4 at the last Silver Conference!"

"Then you wouldn't mind having a battle with me. One-on-one." She eagerly replied. "Another Galarian Pokemon?"

Zephyr smiled sheepishly and scratched his neck "yeah, sorry. I have a few but they're back at home and the one's I've got now are from Johto and Kanto. I've got the Kanto forms of Rapidash and Farfetch'd though."

Something clicked in Hazel "oh right, there are Galarian forms of some Kanto Pokémon. What are those like?"

"Well, there are Ponyta and Rapidash but they're both Psychic-types with Fairy being added after evolving, Farfetch'd is a Fighting-type with an evolved form called Sirfetch'd, Corsola the Ghost-type..." He rattled off a few others like Mr. Mime, Weezing and Yamask while showing their forms on his Pokédex "my sister's got a Galarian Ponyta and can't stop brushing its mane. She's only twelve!"

"Is it true that trainers in Galar don't go on a journey until they're about thirteen or fourteen?"

He nodded "oh yeah, I started when I was fourteen with my Meowth - now the Perrserker you saw. The Gym Challenge there is intense and you need to get an endorsement to compete so not many people finish compared to those who start."

Hazel recalled someone talking about that "I've heard some people complaining about how it's elitist, shows favouritism to those born in Galar and is open to blackmail since those that do the endorsing can withdraw it at a moment's notice."

Zephyr frowned "well, thankfully that's never happened. I imagine that officials like the chairman, champion, gym leaders etc. would call for the blackmailer's dismissal, easily."

"Well, never mind that, you said you had a sister, do you have any others? How big is your family?"

"Well, I've only got a little sister and my dad's an only child but my mum has a sister who had five kids. My Aunt and oldest cousin are both Gym Leaders of Circhester Gym, although Aunt Melony is an Ice-type specialist and Gordie uses Rock-types."

As the conversation continued, Hazel kept on half-eyeing the battle that started after Zephyr: Purrloin against Krabby. While Krabby's pincers were incredibly strong and could use Brick Break proficiently, Purrloin's agile body and use of sneaky Dark-type moves such as Torment, Hone Claws and Feint Attack managed to chip away the Water-type's health, soon defeating it in a timely matter.

As Zephyr's voice faded, Hazel slid her eyes from the battle back to him and told him "I still want to battle, are you in or out?"

~~~~~~

"Beedrill! Front and centre!" Hazel tossed her pokéball high in the air. When the light from the pokéball, the bipedal Poison Bee Pokémon zipped a few spaces side-to-side and made a few pretend jabs with his stingers.

"Farfetch'd! Time to shine!" Zephyr responded, throwing one of his own pokéball in the air. His Pokémon squawked and flapped its wings, trying to make itself look big and intimidating. "Ladies first." He was trying to be cocky, Hazel could tell by his stance and smirk but he was too polite for it to actually work.

"Fine by me" Hazel shrugged "Beedrill, use Agility then Twineedle!" He quickly zipped off, dancing around his opponent before his stingers lit up to prepare his attack.

"Farfetch'd, give yourself some cover" Zephyr's Pokémon quickly dug into the ground to unleash amounts of sand when Beedrill started to close in.

"Attack from behind" Hazel commanded "repeat the Twineedle as much as you can before Farfetch'd attacks back."

Beedrill nodded and dodged the Sand Attack just in time, rounding behind Farfetch'd to face its back and unleash rapid repeated jabs. The bird squawked in surprise and managed to clipped Beedrill with his leek before Beedrill managed to get out of the swing zone.

After quickly getting over his shock, Zephyr shouted "take it out by using Brutal Swing!"

"Beedrill, get away!" Hazel widened her eyes, he buzzed in alarm, trying to get away but got clipped before he got far enough away "good job, better nip this in the bud and use Focus Energy then Poison Jab." Just in case it didn't get poisoned form Twineedle. His whole body shook and was tense for a second before his stingers lit up and the ends of them were surrounded by dark purple energy bubbling and dripping.

Beedrill's enhanced speed from the Agility made it all the more tragic for Farfetch'd. That Wild Duck Pokémon was mercilessly jabbed in a repeated pattern and on Beedrill's last swing, he swung so hard, Farfetch'd catapulted high in the air and landed close to Zephyr's shocked self with its leek a considerable number of metres away.

For a few seconds, Farfetch'd didn't move and Zephyr's cries for Farfetch'd to get up rang out. He eventually managed to get up but the telltale signs of poisoning were evident from his panting, pained face all the way down to his trembling legs.

"Facade!" Clear waves of energy pulsated, heading one-hundred-and-eighty degrees in front of Farfetch'd.

"Endure." Hazel had to give the bird some credit, it was pretty determined and despite being at a typing advantage, it just wasn't on the same level as her special bug. Beedrill braced itself and was outlined in a glowing red colour for the rest of Farfetch'd's Facade. "Great job, Beedrill now finish him off with Payback."

Zephyr couldn't give any commands in time to dodge this new attack. Angry red-and-black shadow-like forms of energy raced towards Farfetch'd and covered him whole. When it disappeared, the bird was lying on its back, unconscious.

"Farfetch'd is unable to battle. The winner is Beedrill and Hazel." The referee called out. A few cheers over the chatter could be heard and some claps here and there.

Hazel and Zephyr recalled their Pokémon and to show good sportsmanship, they shook hands.

"Wow, your Beedrill is _damn_ strong" Zephyr exclaimed "takes float like a Butterfree, sting like a Beedrill to a new level."

She shared a smile and gave a slight bow of her head. "Thank you, he's always been a bit of a hothead. Tried to take on my Swampert as a Weedle!" Hazel remembered it fondly, it was in a training session and Swampert had knocked down a tree trying to perfect her Hydro Pump, a prequel to Hydro Cannon and a notoriously difficult move to master. Rather then run away in terror, he reared up in indignation and aimed an angry Poison Sting at both her and Swampert.

"What?" He chuckled, "determined or crazy, he's a stubborn Bug."

She readily agree with Zephyr, her Beedrill was something else and they both like they had something to prove to those who say that the Weedle-line were utterly pathetic Bugs. Hazel and her Beedrill had trained extensively for a few weeks with Fuchsia City's Gym Leader, Koga and his Beedrill after she won a badge from there. Hazel learned a few ninjutsu techniques while Beedrill learned powerful moves like X-Scissor and Aerial Ace. He even helped her Venusaur learn Sludge Bomb. Koga was a very intimidating man to anyone that crossed his path. Being so stoic and serious and Hazel never actually saw him smile or crack a joke.

"Yeah he is. Likes to picks fights he shouldn't be pickin'." Smiling, Hazel asked "I'm kinda hungry, do you want to join me for dinner? I want to pick your brain on the Pokemon in Galar."

"Hell yeah! I hear seafood on this cruise has a five-star rating and it's calling my name." Comically rubbing his stomach, he followed Hazel like an eager pup.

There were two different restaurants: one dining and one buffet. By the time they reached the buffet hall, Hazel was surprised she couldn't see either Dawn or May, they complained they were starving so much. Where were they? The aromas distracted Hazel enough from her thoughts when she eyed a large hearty ramen dish and grabbed some sliced tofu pieces and a few spoonfuls of finely chopped spring onions.

She rolled her eyes and let out a huff when she saw Zephyr's plate piled with with many different styles of sushi with a few yakitori skewers.

"What? Don't blame me that Johto and Kanto have delicious food!" He defended.

"Not thinking that, just anymore is gonna make you sick all day tomorrow." Hazel smirked. "If you do, eat something heavy with ginger, maybe chamomile tea as well. Take it from a native."

Zephyr pouted before tucking with a pair of deftly held chopsticks. "So you wanted to ask about native Galar Pokemon?" Hazel crinkled her nose in disgust at the sight of his open, half-chewed food-filled mouth.

"Yeah, every region I've been to (excluding Kanto and Johto), I've caught and trained a Pokemon to give to my mother as a present. So far there's Beautifly, Leafeon, Floette, Panpour and Ribombee for Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos, Unova and Alola. I'd like to keep the garden theme going because she loves gardening aside from owning and working in a restaurant." Hazel explained.

"How in Arceus' name did ya find an Eevee!?"

"I won her as an egg in an informal battle competition. It was Eevee who decided to evolve into a Leafeon as she was already a dainty, shy 'lil lady. Didn't like battling much but absolutely adored a good brush and snuggle, something like a housemon my mama is pretty happy with."

"Well, the only solely native Pokemon to Galar your mum might be interested in would be an Applin or Milcery. Applins and its evolutions are dual grass-dragon types: Flapples can induce chemical burns by storing acid in their cheeks before spitting it out at opponents and Appletuns look like walking apple pies and are incredibly slow, they produce a nice nectar smelling scent that attracts bug-types then eats them and the skin on its back is used by children as a tasty snack.

Milcery and its single evolution, Alcremie are fairy-types only and one hundred percent female. Milcery is only eight inches tall and looks like a splash of milk, there's also a Galarian lore that say if a patisserie is visited by one are guaranteed success and good fortune. They also evolve into nine different types of Alcremie that range from vanilla cream to rainbow swirl. When a trainer gain's an Alcremie's trust, it will give them berries dipped in its own cream and the happier it is, the sweeter and richer the cream is."

Between bites, Zephyr explained both evolution lines and he showed what they looked like on his Pokédex.

Hazel was thinking that an acid shooting Pokemon wouldn't be a good fit and an Appletun would probably murder her brother's Heracross the second it came close to it. Bulbasaur had the patience of a saint but a Pokemon whose physiology was designed to attract bug-types and _eat them_ probably wasn't the best fit.

"Where can I find a Milcery?" By this time, Zephyr had gotten a small bowl of tempura vegetables and some Johto-styled curry rice with a cup of ginger tea much to the snickering of Hazel.

He took a thoughtful bite, taking a few moments to think before responding with "most commonly on Route 4 but in the Wild Area, they appear more often when there's fog in the Bridge Field and Giant's Mirror Wild Areas."

"Wild Areas?"

"You're going to Galar without knowing about the Wild Area?" He stared in disbelief before continuing "its a wild area full of different Pokemon from different biomes. There are fields, groves, lakes and forest areas just to name a few, even a placed called Dusty Bowl where you can find Pokemon anywhere from Rhyhorn, Vulpix and Hippopotas to Swinub, Sneasel and Electrike depending on the weather. The Wild Area connects and adjoins several different towns."

"Sounds like a pretty good place to live."

"You want to live in the Wild Area!?" Zephyr's eyed widened in alarm "do you know how dangerous that is?"

Hazel waved away his concern nonchalantly "don't worry about me, I'll be fine. It's not like I can't protect myself. I _am_ a seasoned trainer."

"That shouldn't matter." Frowning, he asked "why do you want to live there anyway?"

"I've never been to a city unless battling a Gym Leader," she looked annoyed "so dirty, too many people and the fumes from cars are absolutely suffocating. There's no room to stretch and run around!" Hazel growled.

"Ha, sounds like you can't take the country out of the girl or the girl out of the country."

"Damn straight."

"There you are, Hazel!" They both turned to see May with a look of relief. "Iris's cousins are calling from Galar and she wants us all to be there to introduce everyone."

"Fine" she turned to Zephyr "I'll see you later."

"Come on!" May tugged at Hazel as they hurried down hallway. "So is he your boyfriend?"

She ignored the sly look sent her way "no, saw he had a Galar Pokemon. There's another version of Meowth, a steel-type that evolved into something called a Perrserker and his aunt and cousin are Gym Leaders to the Circhester Gym."

"All you talk about is battling." May tittered. "I'm just saying you need to get laid _bad_ to release all of that tension in your whole body."

"Ah uh, like how you and Drew were two nights ago?"

"Hey!" May sputtered and out of the corner of Hazel's eyes, she saw May's red-growing embarrassed face. Instead of staying at a Pokemon Centre, they all rented hotel rooms but were unfortunately roomed close enough together that they all heard May and Drew when they spent the night together. After many months apart, they couldn't stand to be apart and acted and sounded like quite a pair of horny Pokemon.

May still silent and had a red face when they entered their room. Iris already got the video chat going and was hogging the screen with Dawn so May and Hazel couldn't see anything.

"Oh finally you're here" Iris turned to them, relieved "these guys are my cousins: Leon and Hop."

Once Hazel saw the boys, she could see very much how Iris was related to them. All three had the exact same medium brown skin tone and similar physical features but Iris had violet purple hair and maroon eyes while both boys had more royal purple hair with yellow gold eyes.

"Leon and Hop, these are my other friends May and Hazel."

"Hi, nice to meet ya!" Hop started "Iris told me you guys started on your journey when you were just _ten_ _years old_ , I'm so jealous! You'll be there when I start, right, Iris?"

She just gave out a laugh "of course, Hopscotch."

Hop's face was covered in red blush, his eyes flickered to Hazel, May and Dawn then back to Iris "I told you not to embarrass me in front of your friends!" He whined.

"When do I do what anyone else says?" Iris smirked.

"The elder from Village of Dragons?" Hazel offered. Iris stuck her tongue out.

"So Hop," Iris began "do you know what starter you and your friend want?"

"No" he groaned "it's so hard to choose, they're all so great!"

"Hey Hazel" She turned to face Iris who had a smirk on her face "tell Hop about your brother's first few days as a trainer."

When May and Dawn began giggle-snorting, Hop's face scrunched up in confusion "I hear giggling, why are they giggling?" It turned into full-blown laughter. After all, they all had heard in detail how it went from various people including Delia, Professor Oak and especially a disgruntled Misty.

"It's quite funny to them." Hazel replied dryly. "He slept in late, got a Pokemon that wasn't an official starter and was attacked by a whole flock of Spearows before he made it to Viridian City."

Hop reeled back in surprise " _what?_ " he screeched.

"And when he got to the Pokemon Centre, two irritating and incredibly stupid criminals with a talking Meowth decided it was a great time to try and rob the centre of all its Pokemon. Luckily when the power had gone out, the centre had a back-up plan of 'Pika-power', the pokéballs were evacuated and transported to Pewter City but the Centre in Viridian was practically blown up."

Hop was frozen, colour drained from face in shock and Leon had an amused smile and looked like he was enjoying his brother's reaction.

"But don't worry, I'm certain your journey will be less interesting." Hazel waved nonchalantly.


End file.
